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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the government will enact more than 100 measures and spend €3.5 billion over four years to cut youth unemployment, which has reached 55%. The programs include tax incentives for young freelance workers, state-funded unemployment benefits for startup ventures and reduced social security contributions for self-employed young people.

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Unemployment in the eurozone dropped to 11.1% in April, the lowest figure in three years, but little progress has been made in bringing down youth unemployment, according to Eurostat. The jobless rate among young people was 22.3%.

Proclaiming there is no alternative to an austerity drive that has left more than a quarter of the workforce unemployed, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy defended the government's record in his first state of the nation address. "We have achieved the twin task of avoiding the shipwreck that threatened our country and launching the reforms needed for our production system," said Rajoy, who is facing corruption allegations.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny might have passed up a golden opportunity to get everything he wanted at a recent summit of eurozone leaders, according to The Economist. Kenny did not pursue a suggestion by Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, that would have eased pressure on Ireland to reduce its corporate tax. Perhaps Kenny "thinks he can come up with a different offer that will satisfy his European partners," the magazine noted. "The danger, though, is that the same easy terms will no longer be on offer."

The number of people in Ireland receiving jobless benefits declined for the second consecutive month in October, the Central Statistics Office said. Critics of the government's economic policy said most of the decline came from highly skilled workers leaving Ireland for employment.

Uncertainty in the sovereign-debt market pushed up the interest rate paid by Ireland on its latest debt offering, economists said. Bond buyers demanded a yield that was 0.2% higher than what Ireland paid on comparable securities in a March auction, resulting in about $4 million a year in extra interest.